Representatives of the National Democratic Front and the government after their meeting in The Hague at which they agreed to recommend a 27-day ceasefire over the holidays. (http://www.ndfp.net/joom15/images/stories/2012_NDFP-GPH_Hague_18Dec/DSC01596.JPG)
Peace negotiators of the National Democratic Front and the government have agreed to recommend a mutual 27-day nationwide ceasefire, from midnight of December 20 to midnight of January 15 next year, the rebels’ chief negotiator said Wednesday. The agreement was reached during a meeting between the two parties in The Hague, The Netherlands on December 18-18. The meeting was facilitated by the Norwegian government, which is also the third-party facilitator to the formal peace talks. Luis Jalandoni said the ceasefire “additionally gives due consideration to the relief and rehabilitation of the victims and communities devastated by super typhoon ‘Pablo’.” If the mutual truce is declared, it will likely supersede the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ declaration of an 18-day “suspension of offensive military operations” from December 16 to January 3 and extend an even earlier December 5 to January 3 “humanitarian ceasefire” declared by the National Democratic Front-Mindanao in typhoon-stricken areas of the island.
AFP spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said they welcomed the NDF announcement but added that all military units will remain vigilant against possible attacks by the New Peoples Army. Burgos claimed the NPA in Mindanao had violated their own unilateral ceasefire, citing an alleged attempt to kill a soldier who had lost his home during the typhoon and the abduction of his children. The rebels have denied this, claiming the incident happened when the soldier suddenly fled on seeing an NPA unit helping typhoon victims rebuild their homes. The rebels said one of their fighters was seriously wounded when the fleeing soldier hurled a grenade at them. In Iloilo province, a soldier was killed in a recent NPA ambush.
Representing the government at The Hague meeting were presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas, chief government negotiator Alex Padilla, government panel member Efren Moncupa, Undersecretary Chito Gascon and Maria Carla Munsayac-Villarta, head of the government panel secretariat. The NDF was represented by Jalandoni, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison, negotiators Fidel Agcaoili and Coni Ledesma, political consultant Vicente Ladlad, NDF legal consultant Edre Olalia, Ruth de Leon, head of the peace panel secretariat, and Rosario Agcaoili, a member of the panel staff. Aside from the truce, the NDF said the parties also agreed to “carry on discussions” on a number of issues:
- The common declaration of national unity and just peace
- The further upholding of national independence, democracy and human rights
- The creation of a “committee on national unity, peace and development
- Agrarian reform, rural development and national industrialization
- Truce
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/50748/ndf-govt-negotiators-to-recommend-dec-20-jan-5-ceasefire
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